Google’s new geothermal energy project

 Google’s new geothermal energy project is working efficiently

Google’s new geothermal energy project is up and running. A new kind of geothermal plant will feed the power grid that serves two Google data centres in Nevada. Google partnered with clean energy startup Fervo on a new geothermal project in Nevada that will send electricity to the grid that serves two of Google’s data centres. A first-of-its-kind geothermal project which is helping to power Google’s data centres with clean energy.

Google is partnering with startup Fervo, which has developed new technology for harnessing geothermal power. Since they are using different tactics than traditional geothermal plants, it is a relatively small project with the capacity to generate 3.5 MW. For context, one megawatt is enough to meet the demand of roughly 750 homes. The project will feed electricity into the local grid which will serves two of Google’s data centres. It’s part of Google’s plan to run on carbon pollution-free electricity around the clock by 2030. To reach the goal, it’ll have to get more sources of clean energy online. It sees geothermal as a key part of the future electricity mix which can fill in whenever wind and solar energy wane.

“If you think about how much we advanced wind and solar and lithium ion storage, here we are — this is kind of the next set of stuff and we feel like companies have a huge role to play in advancing these technologies,” says Michael Terrell, senior director of energy and climate at Google. The project has been in the works since 2021, when Google announced the “world’s first corporate agreement to develop a next-generation geothermal power project.” Geothermal energy takes advantage of heat emanating from within the Earth. But this effort is no ordinary geothermal plant, which would typically draw up hot fluids from natural reservoirs to produce steam which rotates the turbines.

This new project actually was built on the outskirts of an existing geothermal field where, in Terrell’s words, “there’s hot rock, but there’s no fluid.” To generate geo thermal energy there, Fervo had to drill two horizontal wells through which it pumps water. Fervo pushes cold water through fractures in the rock, which heats it up so it can generate steam back at the surface. It’s a closed-loop system, so the water gets reused — an important feature in a drought-prone region like Nevada.

Fervo have also installed fibre optic cables inside the two wells in order to gather real-time data on flow, temperature and performance of its system. These are tactics gleaned from the oil and gas industry to tap energy resources which otherwise would have been out of reach. “This one was super promising to us because it was already leveraging existing technologies that have been used in the oil and gas space,” Terrell says. “And so we felt like it had a lot of potential, and a lot of potential to get online sooner rather than later.” Aside from this deal with Google, Fervo also has backing for its technology by Bill Gates’ climate investment firm Breakthrough Energy Ventures and the US Department of Energy.

Unlike wind and solar farms which are sensitive to weather and time of day, geothermal projects can generate electricity on a more consistent basis. This is one reason why Google is working to bring more projects like this online. In September, it announced another partnership with the non profit Project Innerspace to "leverage their respective strengths to address critical challenges facing geothermal development, including the development of a global geothermal resources mapping and assessment tool".